27. Goals

I haven't even been out of school for a week, and it's already going by too fast. But, in reality I've got the whole summer left to accomplish whatever I want to. It's pretty liberating, really -- two months of unadulterated freedom, with no homework and very few rules and altogether way too much free time. So, if I want to have a hope of actually accomplishing something this summer, I'm gonna have to start setting goals.

Each summer as part of the summer skating program, we are asked to set goals concerning what we want to accomplish over the next few months. They can be pretty much anything, from landing a jump, to learning a new spin, to improving body awareness and musicality. They could even be something as simple as, "pay attention better in class". We meet once every few weeks to discuss how much progress we've made so far, et cetera, et cetera, and it's all very encouraging, and helpful, and perfectly boring.

But the first few weeks of summer are less organized. There's no pompous coach telling you exactly what type of goals you need to set, or asking you in that condescending voice to read them aloud to the group. No, in the first fortnight of summer, the whole world is open, and you can accomplish whatever you put your mind to.

It's just up to you to do it....

10. Choreography

So typically, when I'm in a lesson with my coach, we work on jumps, or spins, or (my least favorite), my program. But in the past few weeks, we've been doing something a little different: choreography. In this case, it's not even necessarily for a program that we'll add to later, or even set to music, but rather a series of cool-looking movements that happen to flow well together. Most of the time it's just improvisational, moving to whatever comes to mind. It's not as polished-looking as a program that you practice daily, but there's something so raw and true about expressing what you feel through your body. There's no hiding behind the veil of robotic, practiced steps; whatever movement you make has to come directly from you. On the one hand, it makes you incredibly vulnerable, like having your heart cut open and the secrets pouring out for all the world to see. But on the other hand, it's also incredibly liberating, because who are we to be judged for the steps that we take? There is no right way, and there is no wrong way. There is only movement.

3. Skating

I started skating when I was in fourth grade- my mum had taken lessons as a kid, and decided to get back into it. I have never been very good at it- I am probably the least coordinated, least graceful people you will ever meet- but there was something so liberating about gliding down the ice, and I was hooked.  Before skating, my participation in athletics was mostly limited to school PE classes and rescess soccer games, generally involving me playing goally so that I wouldn't get in eeveryones way. So to have discovered a sport that didn't involve getting whacked in the face with a leather ball was a bit of a revalation to me.
I know it's a bit cliché, but being involved in the sport has taught me alot about life. It has tought me about determination and perserverence in pushing myself to get that new jump or spin. It has taught me not to judge myself based on the skills of others- My best skating friend in three years younger than me and two levels ahead of me. It has tought me to learn from my mistakes, to ask for help if you need it. It has helped me to manage my time better, juggling between homework, skating, social life, and sleep. I could go on forever. But that would probably bore you...
By far the most important thing that it has tought me is that there is always a place that you belong. I can be having the worst day of my life, and someone will always be there to smile or say hi to me. Maybe it is because my Mum and I are so involved with the rink, but it does seem that the people there are more like family than friends. many a time someones parent will offer to give me a ride if my mum can't, or the other way around. The coaches have been my mentors for many years, and I look up to them with the utmost respect. I went to the annual summer camp as a counseler for the first time, and it was a very enlightening experience to be 'the coach' for a whole new generation of skaters. I can only hope that they can look up to me in the same way that I have looked up to the current coaches.